Losing ground in the global market

Uruguay: Citrus exports are reduced

In the last seven years the competitiveness of Uruguayan citrus fell sharply against major competitors such as Chile, Peru and South Africa.

The reason is that the production of these competitors, enters the European Union (the world's largest market) with zero tariffs; while the Uruguayan fruit enters the same market paying a 12.5% tariff on wholesale price. This situation intensifies even more when tariff preferences are lost, which increases the payment between 16% and 17.5%.

This year, the Uruguayan citrus exports fell by 20% and the biggest drop was in the tangerine sector, which recorded a decline in export of 13,000 tons, according to the Bureau of Agricultural Planning and Policy (OPYPA). As a result, the production of that country was in fifth place as an exporter, losing the third place which it occupied for the last 5 years.

This year, the Latin American bloc produced 6.49 million tons of citrus, a volume that represents a drop of 0.6% for 2010 and 17.3% from the 2007 harvest, according to OPYPA. Lemon production grew by 18%, grapefruit, 12%, although the orange, the most important sector, fell 8.5% and 6.23%, according to the publication,